A London Open Gardens weekend ticket grants access to 120+ green spaces rarely open to the public, weekend ticket holders also have access to the Behind the Scenes Collection.
Behind the Scenes are intimate small-group tours led by head gardeners and horticultural specialists, giving you a unique, insider’s look at how these stunning green spaces evolve through the seasons, taking you beyond the garden gates and into the heart of their work. The tours are exclusive to London Open Gardens ticket holders, with a maximum of 20 places. An additional booking fee of £5 applies.
After you purchase your London Open Gardens weekend ticket you will receive an order confirmation from the ticketing platform Eventbrite. In the order confirmation you will find a link giving you access to the full descriptions and booking links for each of the Behind The Scenes. Tickets cost £5.
London Open Gardens weekend ticket holders were sent emails from Eventbrite on Monday 20 April and Wednesday 6 May containing the exclusive booking links to book the Guided Walks, and Behind the Scenes.
At the bottom of this page you will find a list of the now Sold Out Behind the Scenes tours.
FRIDAY 5 JUNE
The Greenwood Centre. Building communities: people and wildlife in a new build setting.
Friday 5 June 11.30 – 13.00. Tour lasts 90 mins.
Please note this tour happens in the week prior to London Open Gardens.
From ground-floor planters to the rooftop- this evolving garden designed with biodiversity as a key theme has been created by the centre’s mental health & integrated learning disability groups. Discover how gardening supports wellbeing for the local community. The tour is led by Catherine Tidnam and Ben Ledden from Green City Projects – highly experienced garden professionals working in community garden projects and private garden design.
SATURDAY 6 JUNE
149 years of Covent Garden Playground.
Saturday 6 June 11.00 – 12.30. Tour lasts 90 mins.
The tour will introduce the project’s innovative approach to creating the beautiful, family-friendly, climate-resilient garden, its new habitats for wildlife and Story Trail.
Learn about the youth-led vision of the project today and its fascinating heritage and links to St Martin-in- the-Fields, Theatreland, Charles Dickens, Octavia Hill and the National Trust.
The tour is led by Max Lacey, the pioneering force behind the Covent Garden playground development. He is involved in many greening projects in Westminster and is passionate about connecting families with nature, new habitats for wildlife and community engagement.With a background in heritage projects he is currently Project Director for St Paul’s Covent Garden’s 1633–2033 Project.
He is joined by Olivia Bright the gardener. With a background in the Arts, Olivia combines her passion for art curation with horticulture having trained and interned at both Great Dixter and Beth Chatto as well as renowned Swedish nursery Klinta Trädgård. Her creativity in the garden and work with the local school pupils shows her enthusiasm and dedication to the project’s main themes of nature recovery, climate resilience and learning.
The Lever Street Community Garden: A Green Flag winner in the Islington Community.
Saturday 6 June 11.30 – 13.00. Tour lasts 90 mins.
Local resident and Chair of Lever Street Community Garden, Rose Heatley talks about the creation and successes of the community garden. This space was once a small Islington Park. Now members now each have a one metre square raised bed in which to grow their choice of herbs, vegetables and flowers. The whole garden is surrounded by fruit trees, currant bushes, flowers and shrubs. Sustainability is key.
Rose will explain how the garden works and how tasks are shared and look at the various management challenges and successes from the creation of the garden to present day.
‘Best in Show Award’ Winner for TfL’s “In Bloom” competition 2025: A Look at South Tottenham Station.
Saturday June 6 12.00 – 13.00. Tour lasts 60 mins.
In the early 1900s, the District Railway started a staff gardening competition that has now, more than 100 years later, continued as the “In Bloom” competition for staff across Transport for London. Today, the competition features entries from people who work at stations, maintenance depots, train depots, bus stations, piers, and ordinary office buildings.
“In 2025 South Tottenham station not only won ‘Best Cultivated Station Garden’ award, but also snagged the top prize, the Dennis Sanger ‘Best in Show Award’. Judges described the winning station as a “riot of colour”, and a place that is about both the plants and the community – where local residents are involved in its creation, and where newer elements are being added to the garden specifically to cater to the community…”
After a brief overview of the “In Bloom” competition and its history, participants will be introduced to the award-winning garden at South Tottenham and its various zones, before having a chance to wander through the garden and experience it up close.
Ray McDonagh and Azaz Khan both work at South Tottenham station, where they have maintained their award-winning garden since 2020. The duo were jointly given the “Outstanding Personal Contribution” award at the National Rail Awards in 2023 due to the impact the garden has had in transforming the station and bringing it closer to the community.
SUNDAY 7 JUNE
James Allen’s Girl’s School Botany Gardens: A Behind the Scenes Tour.
Sunday 7 June 10.00 am & 11.30. Each tour lasts 60 mins.
Set up by maverick Biology teacher Lilian Clarke in 1896, this garden celebrates the study of planting and habitats as part of the curriculum. Rejuvenated during the last 4 years the garden provides a beautiful environment for students to pursue the curriculum and design and maintain the copse, beds and wildlife pond. Biodiversity, soil health and engagement with nature is key here. The tour is led by Sally Rendel, the garden manager and Eleanor Jennings, the gardener. They have been working together for the last 4 years to restore the gardens and their educational qualities.
The challenges and triumphs of the Friends of Margravine Cemetery.
Sunday 7 June 11.00 – 12.00. Tour lasts 60 mins.
Every week, the Friends Group of Margravine Cemetery work hard to enhance this beautiful green space. The cemetery is now largely grassland, with wild flowers and trees and small areas of formal planting. Discover hidden corners of ‘countryside within the town’, and see first hand how they promote biodiversity.
The Friends won the London Community Tree Award 2023 and have regularly attracted ‘Outstanding’ for a ‘London-in -Bloom’ award.
Right to Grow: Community Food Gardens in Stepney-Shadwell.
Sunday 7 June 11.00 – 13.00. Tour lasts 120 mins.
Discover Right to Grow Tower Hamlets campaign as we celebrate the borough’s vibrant network of community food projects. Five community food gardens will be visited exploring their rich harvests, diverse cultures, and shared stories that make Tower Hamlets unique. Gardens will include Stepney City Farm, St Paul’s Shadwell, Pearl and Mizanur’s Memorial Garden and Swedenborg Orchard. The Right to Grow is about nourishing bodies and relationships, and strengthening connections between gardeners, neighbours, and communities through food, culture, and heritage. The tour is led by Carmen Ho, a multidisciplinary storyteller, game maker, ethnographic researcher, and therapeutic horticulturist.
A Fruity Walk in South London.
Sunday 7 June 11.00 – 12.00. Tour lasts 60 mins.
‘ Through mindfulness, tree identification and storytelling, we’ll uncover the surprising fruit trees that thrive in South London, from persimmons to medlars, and consider what they reveal about the changing climate and our relationship to the land and people. Along the way, we’ll discover how these overlooked corners foster wellbeing, connection and quiet resistance to urban stress. Expect unexpected trees, moments of calm and new ways of seeing familiar spaces ‘
The tour is led by Divya Hariramani a Renewable Energy and sustainability Consultant working at the intersection of sustainability and the built environment. Outside of work, she runs Fruity Walks, a personal project exploring unusual fruit trees and the stories they hold in London.
Rewilding the Old Lea River Walk: A walk led by lead ecologist Gideon Corby.
Sunday 7 June 14.00 – 15.30. Tour lasts 90 mins.
A walk downstream along the banks of the Old Lea River to see and talk about the rewilding of the river and woodland. The Rewilding Old Lea project aims for wildlife to thrive and for people to experience a wilder space. We will see the methods used to return the aptly named Old Lea, as far as is possible, in appearance and ecological function to its pre-industrial state, a natural spectacle full of life and life-enhancing energy.
The tour is led by Lead ecologist of the Rewilding Project, Gideon Corby – a passionate expert on the eco systems and wildlife of the Lea River.
The following Behind the Scenes are now Sold Out:
Wednesday 3 June
10.00 – 11.00. Discover ‘The new garden to commemorate the life of Queen Elizabeth II’.
Friday 5 June
10.00 – 12.00. Discover the Wild World of Zoo Horticulture at London Zoo .
Saturday 6 June
11.00 – 12.00. Where History Grows: A head gardener’s tour of Fulham Palace gardens.
11.00 – 12.00. Brutal Urban Landscape: Tour the award winning Nigel Dunnett garden at the Barbican with Charlotte Seers – Corporation of London Gardener.
Sunday 7 June
12.00 – 13.00. Discover the hidden gem of St Dunstan in the East: A Square Mile treasure.
11.00 – 12.00. Creating the new garden at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
14.00 – 15.00 & 15.30 – 16.30. The Artist’s Retreat: A Garden Tour of William Hogarth’s House in Chiswick. Both tours now Sold Out